


to be

by aswarmofbees



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Light Angst, Trans Character, Transgender Kasamatsu, if u squint real hard tho it's onesided, morikasa if u squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 16:52:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10880976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aswarmofbees/pseuds/aswarmofbees
Summary: “Oh,” was the first thing that left Moriyama’s mouth when he saw him.“Do you mind if I stay the night?” Kasamatsu asked, pushing down the urge to run his fingers through his newly cut hair. It was more of a mop of black tresses atop his head, a catastrophe of uneven blunt edges that flopped over his forehead and rested haphazardly over his ears.The heavy night breeze wasn’t helping either. “I--yeah.”





	to be

**Author's Note:**

> it's been.. . 84 years... i haven't posted or updated anything in so long, hello! and it's wild bc this fic has been sitting in my folder, completed, since... well i wrote it in june... of 2015, and finished it in a day or two but! never posted it for some reason
> 
> be prepared bc i'm going to be updating my other works soon too since they've basically been collecting dust. and i'll be adding more (kikasa) fics as well. i've got too many to count at this point. this one's p short but i enjoyed writing it--give me transboy kasamatsu or give me death

“Oh,” was the first thing that left Moriyama’s mouth when he saw him.

“Do you mind if I stay the night?” Kasamatsu asked, pushing down the urge to run his fingers through his newly cut hair. It was more of a mop of black tresses atop his head, a catastrophe of uneven blunt edges that flopped over his forehead and rested haphazardly over his ears.

The heavy night breeze wasn’t helping either. “I--yeah.”

Moriyama blinked. “Uh, yeah, s--sure, just--gimme one second,” he said, waiting until he walked in to dart off.

Kasamatsu glanced around the familiar household, slipping off his shoes as he closed the door behind him. He heard soft chatter in the other room, and could only assume that his friend was talking with his mother, informing her of their new, unexpected guest. He hated to come in unannounced like this, to impose on their family, but--he couldn’t exactly go back home right now.

Not when an angry set of parents awaited his return, staring down the bundle of hair in the trash that once belonged to their ‘beautiful daughter’.

Self-consciously, he gave in and ran his hand through his new pixie cut hair, a stark contrast to his once long locks that fell all the way to his mid-back. The difference had a small, happy smile curling the edges of his lips. Despite his lack of skill with cutting hair, the lighter weight atop his head had him feeling uncharacteristically giddy.

He’d wanted this for so long.

His mother had loved his hair, always adored brushing it, braiding it and constantly gushing about how gorgeous and long it was. Now it sat under a heap of crumpled toilet paper in their bathroom waste basket, and right now, he couldn’t bring himself to give a damn.

“Are you going to stand there smiling creepily to yourself, or do you want help actually fixing the disaster on your head?”

Kasamatsu snapped his head up at his friend’s voice, hand immediately dropping back to his side. He was standing under the doorframe to the hallway, looking entirely amused by the situation.

“I mean, I love the look, I do, but--maybe kitchen scissors wasn’t the best choice.”

Mortified, Kasamatsu felt his face boil, and his hand found place yet again atop his head. “Sh--Shut up,” he snapped, but it was weak and his voice cracked miserably at the end. Another layer of embarrassment to pile atop the rest.

Kasamatsu clung to his anger.  “It’s not like I had a lot of options!”

Moriyama’s face softened, and while it should have made Kasamatsu think it was sweet and well-intentioned, all he wanted to do was smack the idiot in the face. First he went off poking fun at him, and now he was saddling up on his obscure charm like nothing had happened.

“Do you want to fix it before or after dinner? You could always just shower after--and anyway how are you not itchy all over?”

“Since when are you the hair expert?” he bit out, trying to storm passed the other and possibly lock him out of his own damn room. He barely made it before Moriyama was easily tugging him back, quickly shoving a hat over his head so he could immediately dodge Kasamatsu’s angry swipe of an arm.

“Just so you don’t spook mom,” he supplied casually, watching with a grin as Kasamatsu adjusted it with an irritable huff.

Kasamatsu nearly began to fidget, somewhat dreading interaction with anyone in the Moriyama family that wasn’t his best friend, but stopped himself once he caught the nervous twitch in his fingers. It would be unfathomably rude not to greet his mother, especially not when she was so willing to accept him into her home on such short notice.

“You’re going to have to tell her,” Moriyama told him, “that you basically ran away from--”

“I didn’t run away!” he cut in, brows mashing together. He hesitated. “I just--I told them where I was going, I just couldn’t--stay there, not when--”

He bit his lip, remembering his mother holding a bundle of silky black hair in her hands, tears heavy in her eyes as she begged for Kasamatsu to give her an answer, to explain why he was being so dramatic. She pleaded with him to understand when this phase would end and why her daughter was putting her through this, as if she was the one who had to face the most backlash from simply _being_ \--

“Yukio, I know,” he said, quietly, and Kasamatsu realized that they were still in the middle of their goddamn living room, the weight of this imminent conversation too heavy to be held in one of the most public rooms of their house. “I _know._ But you still have to tell her.”

Kasamatsu swallowed, rolling his lips together. He knew that. There was no way he could get away with a white lie, not when his own parents were sure to ring up their phone any minute. He just knew they’d demand to speak with their daughter and twist the story around until Kasamatsu was the villain, the dumb rebellious teenager going against his parents in a fit of spite.

Moriyama’s mom was more than likely to side with Kasamatsu than his own mother, and he couldn’t give up that opportunity to reason with her before his parents snatched her up.

He trailed slightly behind Moriyama as he led him into the kitchen, stepping around him to greet his mother who was busy cooking away at dinner on the stove.

“H--Hi, Miss Moriyama,” he greeted meekly, cursing his stutter when he heard his friend snort behind him.

She spun around at the sound of his voice, putting down her cooking utensils at the sight of him. “Yoshiko, honey!” she tittered happily, immediately swooping him into a hug.

Embarrassed, he returned it awkwardly, trying to twist around to glare at Moriyama who could be heard snickering quietly at him.

“I’m so glad you showed up tonight!” she continued cheerfully, her smile making her whole face crinkle. “I actually may have made too much, so having another mouth to feed is a wonderful surprise!”

Kasamatsu smiled, stepping back from her embrace. He bowed. “Sorry for the intrusion, and thank you for having me.”

He stood back up to see her waving her hand in dismissal. “I don’t mean to barge in like this but--the reason is--” He cut his explanation short, deciding to just show her.

Kasamatsu sighed shakily, trembling fingers reaching up to grab hold of his hat and tug it off. He winced at the sound of her startled gasp, and at the booming silence that followed.

Awkwardly, he tried to cough to clear the tightness in his throat. “I--My parents are--upset with me. For this.” Quickly, he bowed deeply before her.

“I’m terribly sorry for being a burden, but--please don’t--” he choked, tears burning in his eyes.

“Please don’t make me go back home.”

 

“Did you really doubt that she would help you?” Moriyama asked incredulously, pausing in cutting his hair. He watched Kasamatsu’s face through the reflection in the mirror, waiting for a reaction. “We already told her that you’re a boy, y’know.”

Kasamatsu frowned back at him. “It’s not my fault I have to be cautious around everyone, even if they’re family.”

With a slightly distracted nod, he allowed Kasamatsu that point. “She slips up on your name sometimes--Yoshiko instead of Yukio--but. You know she means well, yeah?”

Pulling his fingers through a bundle of wet, black hair, he dragged his scissors through it. “I just want you to know that she’s trying--you might as well be her own kid.”

“I know, Moriyama, just--” He sighed heavily, glancing away. “Can we not talk about this right now?”

As per his request, he fell silent, and Kasamatsu listened to the quiet clipping of the scissor blades as Moriyama attempted to touch up on his hair.

In the background, somewhere down the hall, Moriyama’s mother could be heard. They both perked up at her hushed, hurried words.

“I just think it’d be best--at least for tonight--for Yoshiko to stay here. She’s awfully shaken up, and sending her home right now would do more damage than good,” she defended, voice soft. “Yes, no I--” A pause. “I understand. I _understand_ that, but would it really do it any good to voice your frustrations at her when you could have some time to let everything cool off?”

Kasamatsu held his breath as he awaited her reply. And then:

“Alright, okay. Thank you--I’ll make sure to take care of her here.”

Kasamatsu gnawed on his lip, feeling his throat close as he tried to reign in his emotions. There weren't any words he could have used to appropriately summarize how grateful he was to her at this moment, to Moriyama too, and--just his friend and his friend's family in general. He loved them all like they were his genuine family, and it was painful to admit that his own actual family wasn't as accepting as them.

"All done! I did a great job, honestly, you should pay me for how good you look."

Kasamatsu looked back up and into the mirror, maintaining contact with his reflection as Moriyama rustled around to put away the scissors and find a broom to sweep. He didn't expect to get choked up so quickly, to lose his voice at the sight of a stranger's face looking back at him.

He blinked rapidly to clear away his blurry face in the mirror, glancing off to the side like he was entirely unaffected. Moriyama seemed to understand that he wanted space, and walked off with the excuse of needing to put his ‘professional barber equipment’ away.

Kasamatsu managed to make sure he only broke down and cried for two minutes maximum.

He wasn’t about to let his best friend see him at his weakest, after all.

 

It wasn’t difficult scrubbing his face clean, and by the time Moriyama returned, Kasamatsu had already made himself comfortable and sprawled across Moriyama’s bed.

“If you were a girl, I might even consider dating you,” Moriyama sniffed, gaze trailing off in the opposite direction. Kasamatsu felt his eyes widen. “Then again, with your violent tendencies, I don’t think it’d work out.”

Instinctively, Kasamatsu leaned up to punch him in the arm as he came to sit on the bed. “Why would dating you make me feel any better? You’re gross.”

Moriyama indignantly stated the he was at _least_ a seven, on a scale of one-to-ten, rubbing his sore arm, and that he’d look decent even though Kasamatsu was a ten.

His cheeks went hot and he smacked him again, yelling that he needed to keep his mind out of the gutter before it drowned. His lips betrayed him by flicking slightly into a small smile, expressing his gratitude in ways that words could not.

"Thanks, I guess," he muttered, "for the weird kind-of compliment."

"You still appreciate it, though," he hummed back, attempting to hold back a pleased smirk. Kasamatsu just knew the idiot was imagining patting himself on the back for that.

He leaned his shoulder to bump against Moriyama's, exhaustion catching up on him. "I do," he admitted quietly, letting his eyes flutter closed as his head tilted sideways. "You give me more than my parents think I deserve."

Amid his drowsy state, he was jostled just slightly, gentle hands maneuvering him onto his side. He grumbled tiredly, but made no move to resist as a blanket covered his body. Before he drifted off to sleep, he could have sworn he heard Moriyama murmur something sickly sweet to him.

"It's a shame, really,” he said, quiet, “because you deserve the world."


End file.
